overjoyed_logs

[ There was no way she was visiting the person she had stalked in the meat isle at work. There's no way she'd willingly put herself through that type of shame again..

Except, well, she is. And she's standing right in front of the reason why she felt shame for the following week because of her little stunt. After having run away in a panic the first time she tried to talk to him (she talked about eggs of all things), she redeemed herself the next day by apologizing. Granted, she ran off after that, too, but it was easier to find some common ground the following times they've talked. ]

How do you know what to use?

[ Juvia's only been here for a good thirty minutes, having walked in with as much confidence as a lost puppy. Despite having been watching him work for at least twenty of those thirty minutes, the first ten being small talk, she finally says what she's been wanting to ask. ]

To make something, Juvia means.

[ He'd thought it a strange one-off occurrence, when she'd scrambled up next to him in the meat aisle after a good ten minutes of staring - to talk about eggs scrambled with ham?? - before promptly running off into the supermarket crowd. It'd been baffling but ultimately easy to forget the following morning after a day's work. But then she'd popped up again out of nowhere, not once but multiple times, and slowly things had gotten less weird.

Slightly.

Things are still a bit weird, as evidenced by now, Juvia loitering near the entrance of the store while he addresses the ebb and flow of customers, low now that winter's finally faded away. It's busy just enough for him to momentarily forget about her presence—until she speaks and her head snaps up. ]

"Know what to use"? [ It's an echo, his mind blank until he finally registers the meaning of her words and looks down at the small vial between his fingers, half filled with white powder. ] You mean this? By following instructions.

[ And a lot of practicing. ]

[ For a second, she's afraid that her clarification on her wording didn't do much at all. But she feels relief when he continues to speak. She, too, looks at the vial between his fingers, before looking back up at him.

His answer is too blunt, Juvia thinks, but she's going to try and keep the conversation going as best she can! She approaches just a little closer, now that most of the customers are hone, to point at what's in his hand. ]

And you learned from your boss.

[ She doesn't think someone would want to do this for the rest of their lives-- she doesn't think she would. She isn't exactly the type to be trusted with ingredients like the one in his hand, she doesn't trust herself with mixing things that aren't tasty all too much. So she automatically assumes its his employer, even throwing in a nod of her own to show just how confident she is in her deduction. ]

Is it stressful?

(ooc: this is super late, so please... ignore it... if you're not up for domestic cr in the least domestic game.)

[ they call it a charity.

actually, they call it a whole host of things: a local event, a small get-together, a nice change of pace. shiro calls it damage control. some company raid gets out of hand on leith where they seek out a purported collection of illegals. the surrounding land burns, and the true citizens are roused into a contained mess of chaos for a short length of time. the clean up takes relatively long, but the rallying takes longer -- peace, after all, is a precious commodity that's jealously guarded these days.

so it goes. it's charity work, they tell him. given the choice between inspiring speeches and freshly baked cookies, he supposes the latter would be better at fostering good morale with the pissed off leithians, with the members of the company that have been relegated to field work and cleaning up after the scorch of their latest blunder.

too bad he can't fucking cook worth shit. ]

Uh.

[ uh -- like he didn't just smash all of that eggshell into juvia's largest batch of batter.

to be fair, he was just trying to help!! ]

I could use that strainer if you're done with it.

[ ooc: omg don't even worry...i'm always up for domestic things in the least likely of places ]

[ This type of damage control is something that Juvia doesn't mind at all. For her, it's all practice for the day she can woo her soon-to-be husband with her fantastic baking! For now, it's Juvia trying to placate Leithians that are, woefully, mad at the Company for simply doing their job.

She's pretty complacent right now, despite the fact that she has no idea how they're even going to make so many cookies in time for their last-minute bake sale. Well, charity. Same thing she thinks, because she's hoping they can gain something a little more tangible than a happy Leithian with how much this is costing all of them...!

She stops using the strainer, frowning for a moment before turning to look at Shiro. He shouldn't need the strainer, right? ]

For what? You're on egg duty, aren't you?

[ But to her horror, she sees the answer staring right in front of her.

Juvia's eyes bug out, nearly dropping the strainer into the bowl below it before she manages to gain some semblance of control. ]

S-SHIRO!!! How did the shells get in there?!

(ooc: oh my god, i'm sorry i'm so late. work + sickness, but i'm not going to waste time trying to rationalize it, just drown shiro in exchange for my sins.)

[ welp, that was about as tame a reaction as he might've expected from her. ]

. . . you wouldn't believe that they were already in there when I got here?

[ but, to be fair, he isn't even trying to lie. he's wiping his gross, slimy hands on a towel, already fishing another bowl out of the cupboard to make amends for his mess.

and then, reaching for the strainer in juvia's slightly fumbling hands - ]

I did warn you before that I don't know how to cook.

[ ooc: it's alright dude! life happens ♥ and you don't know how literal that might be all considering juvia breathes water ]

[ He'll have an easy time getting the strainer from her hands because she stays rigid for some time all before suddenly covering her face. A soft wail of 'nooooooo' can be heard in response to his question-- even with her face covered, her anguish is clear just through her dramatic flailing alone. ]

Juvia knew she should've used her water from the very beginning!

[ Despite having left her gear thrown about her house, the faint sound of rushing water can be heard behind her wails. ]

I'll just separate it! That's the easiest way!

Whoa, let's not do anything too drastic.

[ too late, he thinks, in that first unsteady moment where juvia lets out a poignant sob behind her hands, and he's caught off guard, unpracticed in the face of actual(??) tears. honestly, his mother taught him better than to make girls cry. too bad she never taught him to cook.

it takes a bit of consoling. and a bit of a pause, because? that's not the sound of traditional crying. and the sink's definitely off, which could only mean one... other thing. ]

We can just strain the eggshell out. The batter's definitely salvageable that way.

[ his hand's gentle where it lands on her shoulder, careful, walking on eggshells because although he hasn't known her very long... he knows better, than to make her upset. ]

Just give me another chance to redeem myself.

[ Her water stops just short of the doorway, leaving an giant blob of water floating halfway into the kitchen. She looks at it, then looks at him, then back at her water. As much as her soul wants to, it's the sincerity he's conveying that convinces her to quit it.

Mostly it's the physical contact that's soothing her, also because Juvia has a weak spot for people with pretty faces. ]

A...Alright.

[ Her water awkwardly moves backwards, as if trying to get back to where it was before it was called over. It takes a lot for her to even realize that her reactions are sometimes dangerously drastic-- this time, she manages to come to her senses. She drags her hands down her face, suddenly embarrassed at her outburst. ]

Alright.... [ Her voice is terribly small. ] Will you let Juvia watch you? Please?

[ if there's something he's learned from working with and around juvia lockser, it's this: no man is immune to the dangers of drowning.

which means there's a(n un)healthy amount of dread in watching her work, in hearing the sink turn on, or watching the floating mass of water curl into the kitchen with every sniff and sob of her open crying. his heart drops right into his stomach at the sight -- and lifts again at her hesitant alright, his smile sitting crooked as he tries... very hard... to sound reassuring. ]

Of -- course.

[ wow. great job, shiro. without the nervous pause this time, try again. ]

Like I said, I'm not exactly a master chef. I wouldn't mind the handholding.

[ His attempt at reassuring is honestly enough for Juvia, because she seems calmer the more she looks at his smile and.. well, his go at making the situation better. The last time she had involved her own water in this she made an abomination that no one ate, could eat, or will ever eat.

She pales at the thought if she did that to every single cookie for this event, and the fact she might lose her job if anyone ever connected the dots.

You don't need your water.....You don't need your water........ ]

I-- I promise I won't do anything drastic. [ Like try and drown the batter in her water. ] I'll do just that. Handholding.

Wait, Juvia means helping you.

[ Although for a good second she really thought that-- oh, how spicy this whole thing would be if he really meant that. ]

..Not physically holding your hands.

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ye olde past, a year ago; kim

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circa a year ago? i came here for the cookies but all i got was this dumb wet t-shirt contest

oh hell yes sounds like my type of bake sale, 1/2

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1/2

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